Bucharest (EFE).- The pro-European Union candidate Nicușor Dan won Romania’s presidential elections, with 55.1% of the votes cast in the country and 99.9% of the votes counted.
Although some diaspora votes, mostly in favour of ultra-nationalist candidate George Simion, have yet to be counted, they will not be enough to reverse the result.
The announced margin of victory is around 890,000 votes, and as the number of votes still to be counted is less than that, his victory is mathematically confirmed.
Thousands of people, mostly young people, have gathered in the center of Bucharest in front of Dan’s campaign headquarters, holding European Union and Romanian flags to celebrate the victory in a festive atmosphere, chanting “Europe, Europe” and “Nicușor, Nicușor.”
Dan also went out to greet the crowd with a flag of the EU and Romania.
Election day was marked by a very high turnout, allegations of fraud by Simion (denied by the authorities), and recent warnings from the Romanian government of signs of Russian interference in the electoral process.
Turnout was almost 65%, 2 million more voters than in the first round on May 4, reflecting the high level of polarisation in a key election for Romania’s future.
Simion, aged 38, was the favourite after winning the first round with almost 41% of the vote, twice as much as Dan.
The leader of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) channeled popular dissatisfaction with the political system and mobilized broad rural and youth sectors with a nationalist and Eurosceptic discourse.
In his first speech after the polls closed, Simion declared that he had won, despite the polls predicting his defeat, and announced that he would be “the president of all Romanians.”
“We are counting on a victory with a margin of over 400,000 votes, a victory for the Romanian people, who have been humiliated and robbed up until now,” Simion told his ers, who were hardly jubilant about the bad polls.
These elections are taking place in an extraordinary context: a rerun of the process that was annulled in November following allegations of Russian interference in favour of the then-winner, Calin Georgescu, a pro-Russian candidate who won in a surprise victory and was subsequently disqualified.
His exclusion opened the way for Simion, who declared himself Georgescu’s “political heir” and received his during the campaign.
Simion, an irer of Donald Trump, began denouncing alleged electoral fraud on Friday, although no verifiable evidence has yet been presented.
Various analysts interpret these accusations as a strategy to mobilize his voters on Sunday and lay the groundwork for a possible impeachment in case of defeat.
Nicușor Dan, the independent mayor of Bucharest and mathematician, has emerged as a centrist alternative, attracting the votes of the urban, young, and liberal population.
The 55-year-old presents himself as an advocate of the rule of law, European integration, and continued military for Ukraine.
On Sunday, in the Romanian capital, the mobilization of citizens to vote for the pro-European option was evident.
“I voted for the right candidate for my country and my future. I don’t want to live in a country where the president has extremist ideas ed by a minority of the population,” Maria told EFE after casting her ballot in the centrally located Faculty of Architecture.
Another student, Marius, said he voted for Dan because “neither Simion nor his ideas should represent Romania in the world.”
The new head of state will need to appoint a prime minister capable of forming a government and managing the country’s delicate economic situation, which includes the largest budget deficit in the EU.
The Romanian president has powers over foreign policy, defense, and the appointment of senior officials, including the prime minister. EFE
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